1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of providing information in a directory system comprising a directory for company information, goods and services; a communications network; a directory computer operated by a directory provider; a plurality of search computers operated by enquirers which search computers are connected within the network; and a plurality of active content providers operating active content provider computers, at least some of which are connected to the directory computer.
The term “company” is used loosely and is not to be correlated directly with a limited company or Plc as such or, for example, any other form of private organisation but is to encompass any form of organisation whether it be a limited company, a corporation, a partnership, a charitable organisation, a teaching organisation or indeed any public organisation, whether it be a government department or some State run operation. The term “company” is used loosely to refer to even sole traders and individuals.
Further, any reference to information on goods and services also refers directly to company information, however, rather than always using phrases such as “information pertaining to the company information” and “information on the goods and services”, the reference may be simply to information on the goods and services of a particular provider and where the context permits, it has to be read to include actual physical company information.
2. Background of the Invention
As the information on the Internet expands, it is becoming more and more difficult for people to obtain the information required. Therefore, they are forced to use many search engines which search engines can be difficult to use and navigate.
Particularly for businesses and for people wishing to buy from businesses, the unstructured nature of the manner in which companies web pages and information is held on the internet, cause great difficulty. The supplier of company information, goods and services wishes to make contact readily easily with customers and at the same time, customers wish to make contact with the companies. Further, people wish to contact companies for different purposes such as, for example, people who wish to be employed by companies, people who wish to sell services or goods to companies, or people who wish to buy from companies.
One of the problems for any searcher is the difficulty in restricting the search to obtain details about companies that are of interest to them. A further problem for most people is that when information is changed by companies, it is very difficult to have updates of such information. Thus, for example, when a provider of company information, goods and services introduces new services, special offers and so on, it is often very difficult for the target customer to obtain details of this. Also, it is very important in any information provider to the customer or targeted user of the information, that information be updated on a regular basis. Also, for many people engaged in industry, a particular problem is communicating between each other. For example, a few manufacturers might have problems in relation to the dumping of goods and unfair competition from outside the EU. They also might have concerns in relation to EU legislation and so on. It also would be very useful if such information could be readily available to people involved in the industry, for example, whether directly involved in shoe manufacturers or as retailers or agents. They also need to have some system whereby they can get into regular contact with each other and be regularly updated regarding the information available and the matters of concern in that industry.
Objects
In summary, there is a major need to provide information in relation to goods and services, which information can be used by, not alone prospective buyers, but also prospective sellers to such companies providing these goods and services. What everybody requires when obtaining information is to be able to narrow down the information and to target the information correctly. As the amount of information available on the internet increases exponentially, it is becoming more and more difficult for the users to obtain information specific to their needs without lengthy and costly searching, which searching is not, by any means, comprehensive.
The present invention is directed towards these aims.